Americans think that they are accustomed to dirty politics. If a story
talks about politicians misbehaving, most people shrug and say,
“What else is new?”. When corruption crops up in their
own county or school, however – then the problem becomes real.

It’s a shock, really, once a person realizes how deep, how normal
corruption has become in Missouri's political system. If
a misdeed is exposed, it isn’t because the system “worked”.
It’s because somebody fought against the system to
discover the truth and tell it to the public.

The very culture in government undermines honesty.
“Whistle-blowing” is not seen as a positive or courageous act. Instead,
it is likely
to get one fired and blacklisted as "not a team player".

As an example, consider the treatment of Beau Musser, the
Chief Financial
Officer for the huge St. Joseph school district who had been recently
hired in mid-2013.

The Price of Honesty

CFO Beau Musser

After only a short time on the job, Musser was approached by
the superintendant, Fred Czerwonka, with a suspicious proposal.
Musser was asked to distribute 54 “stipends” of $5,000 apiece to
various
administrators in the district (for a total of $270,000). Musser’s own
name was on the list. He was assured this was perfectly legal.

But he had already discovered serious financial problems
from past management. The “stipend” proposal seemed like a scheme to
hand out money under the table. By putting Musser on the list for a
stipend, it looked like the superintendant was trying to bribe him.

Superintendant
Fred Czerwonka

Musser voiced his concerns to several administrators,
including Czerwonka. He was ignored. Eventually, however, Board Trustee
Chris
Danford found out about the stipends independently. She stunned
everyone by going public at a March 24th, 2014 Board meeting. Seeing
an opportunity, Musser made his own findings public to the Board.

He was rewarded with a series of sexual
harassment charges shown to him by Superintendant Czerwonka. Czerwonka
offered to drop the charges if Musser resigned. Musser refused and
filed a lawsuit. He was quickly put on administrative leave, and the
charges against him were made public.

Musser’s family was shaken by the scandal. His brother,
sister-in-law, and two of his best friends were teachers in the
district. His friends became afraid to talk to him for fear of losing
their
teaching careers. This is a common occurrence in schools – most
teachers have only 1-year contracts, and are dependent upon the
goodwill of administrators for their job.

Musser was able to defend himself because he had secretly
recorded sensitive conversations. Without this
evidence, however, it’s uncertain whether Musser would have been
reinstated. Certainly, it took a great deal of stubbornness to speak
out, when the only support he had at the time came from a single Board
member, Chris Danford.

Trustee Chris Danford

As for Danford, she also had to endure mockery and
belittlement from her peers for a time. The culture of a school
administration is to never go public, even if
things are horribly
wrong.

Musser was vindicated after a six-month ordeal
in which the FBI, the State Auditor’s office and a grand jury conducted
an intense investigation that revealed an astonishing history of
corruption. Over $25 million – and possibly as much as $40
million –
had been illegally bled away from the schools and into the pockets of
contractors, school administrators and relatives of Board members. Fred
Czerwonka was fired and former President Dr. Dan Colgan resigned from
the Board in 2015.

Although Dan Colgan has retained the services of a lawyer, no
charges have been filed. The FBI continues its probe as of this
writing.

In November of 2014, Beau Musser was cleared of all charges
and returned to work as CFO. In March of 2015, the Board voted for a
$450,000 settlement with Musser, but without admitting to any
wrongdoing.

In the end, the two goats, Musser and Danford, became public
heroes, but this was far from inevitable when it began. A great deal of
the initial credit goes to Sam Zeff, a freelance journalist in nearby
Kansas City. His articles turned the St.
Joseph scandal into national news. The ultimate blow, however, was
struck by the State Auditor, the late Tom Schweich. With a five-man
team, Schweich performed his usual thorough investigation and spared
nobody when he released a scathing report early in 2015.

When it comes to government corruption, the deck is stacked in
favor of the criminals. Secrecy is the biggest
friend of the embezzler,
and Missouri’s governments prize their secrecy. This is particularly
true for budgets.

The system also looks after its own. When you read about the
fraud committed in this report, you may notice that a lot of the time,
nobody goes to jail. There’s a reason for that – when fraud occurs,
administrators will ask for a resignation rather than press criminal
charges. They simply want the whole thing to just “go away”.

So what can we do? For starters, read this report. See
firsthand how corruption occurs, and who is responsible. Don’t re-elect
the people who have used public money for personal benefit. Spread the
word among your family and friends. Look for people who care enough to
take action and maybe, just maybe, you might find someone willing to
run for office who isn’t worried about how much it pays or what
benefits they get.

You might find that rarest, most precious resource of a good
government – an honest leader.

Jon Schuessler is a Volunteer leader in
Jefferson
County, and the chairman for Missouri Volunteers for Government
Reform, a
Political Action Committee (PAC) of the Volunteer Movement. Click
here to
read his bio or contact him.